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Sometimes, hatred of a person or object can be almost as powerful as infatuation in serving as a muse<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Beckmesser, villain of Wagner<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s opera Die Meistersinger<\/a><\/strong>, is a vicious caricature, sometimes thought to embody the composer\u2019s anti-Semitic prejudices, or alternatively his hatred for the hostile critic Eduard Hanslick.<\/p>\n One early plan named the character Veit Hanslich. Perhaps fortunately, Wagner thought better of that.<\/p>\n Part of Barto\u0301k<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Concerto for Orchestra lampoons Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 7<\/a><\/strong>, quoting a phrase that itself is a quote from Leha\u0301r\u2019s The Merry Widow, followed by woodwind giggles.<\/p>\n Barto\u0301k\u2019s son Peter recalled listening with his father to the symphony\u2019s US premiere on the radio: Barto\u0301k took exception to the repetitions in the grotesque march, and the banality of its theme.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible Barto\u0301k didn\u2019t get Shostakovich<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Leha\u0301r reference \u2013 Leha\u0301r was Hitler\u2019s favourite composer and that theme was Shostakovich\u2019s own expression of hatred,representing the Nazis approaching Leningrad.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Shostakovich had to bury his loathing of the Soviet system deep within music disguised for state approval. His Symphony No. 11 \u2018The Year 1905\u2019 contains a horrifying musical depiction of a massacre, followed by a lament for the fallen and finally a resurgence.<\/p>\n\n